I was trained as an artist by working artists at the Ontario College of Art in the vocational college system that dominated visual art studies during the late seventies and prior. This was over four years, the last of which was spent on an off-campus program in Florence, Italy. Like most if not all people, four years simply isn't enough to become competent as an artist. I also learned an enormous amount from the artists I worked for and with in animation studios for three decades, as well as the constant and lonely struggle in my studio generating fine art for exhibition year after year. As with my own training, at college and in studios, my instruction is basic and how-to, but I also try and provide personal and subjective insights on both fine and applied visual arts acquired from over fourty years as a full time occupational artist.
To create the videos here I've taken classroom slide shows that demonstrate concepts and their application and made them into short 'explainer' films. The are video 'hand-outs', if you will to be previewed and reviewed as you see fit. As well I've also made live action 'demonstrator' films with demonstrations similar to what I would do in the classroom. It is my hope that the combination of these two approaches, as well as class time, then practice between and after courses or workshops, enable a drawing student to learn 'how to'.
This website is primarily for local, current, former and prospective students of my painting and drawing classes. Introductory courses are my preferred subject as basic visual concepts can be conveyed with greater confidence and utility. As well, the visual arts universe seems far more compressed, energetic, intense and interesting in the beginning when things might be the visual equivalent of the Universe's Planck Epoch. I see more complex, or 'advanced' drawing and painting applications not so much as learning new skills but as more nuanced reiterations of basic drawing concepts constantly scaling up relative to how much time and effort one actually draws/paints/designs.
As an occasional instructor over the years I have taught adults drawing fundamentals, life and figurative drawing, animation background painting and design, basic human and animal anatomy, fundamentals of design, watercolour painting of landscape and figure, and painting fundamentals using the transparent properties of watercolour paint to combine the discrete qualities of light and shade on form with local colour.
In my classes, as well as looking for applications of drawing and painting concepts in photos from the art historical record we look at examples of how they are applied in film, story boarding, comics, animation, advertising, product design, engineering design, architectural design, and print advertising. The applied examples of visual skills and craft we experience so frequently in popular visual media from day to day can serve as observable, instructive and readily available examples of the concepts we are studying in class, in addition to looking at fine art.
The little 'movies' and live action 'demos' that I'm putting here were originally created very quickly during the Covid-19 pandemic for online instruction. Now I'm back occasionally teaching in the classroom I hope these videos will continue to be useful for preview and review. It's my hope that I will spend less time showing slides and explaining things during class and that we can get straight to work drawing or painting in the studio and enjoy a class atmosphere that is more atelier-like. I hope this means I can draw or paint alongside students more frequently and for longer periods and also that I might spend more time orbiting and looking at what students are doing and providing feedback.
Over time I hope to add new movies from other courses and might re-make or edit some of the uploaded content all of which has been put together quite quickly and off-the-cuff.
I would be happy to have any mistakes or misconceptions pointed out in the material posted here. I have often been known get the wrong end of a stick. ( [email protected] )
June 2020
This website might also be a useful way for art education programmers to survey my instructional product. If you are interested in considering me for workshops, demonstrations, or course instruction please contact me at [email protected].
To create the videos here I've taken classroom slide shows that demonstrate concepts and their application and made them into short 'explainer' films. The are video 'hand-outs', if you will to be previewed and reviewed as you see fit. As well I've also made live action 'demonstrator' films with demonstrations similar to what I would do in the classroom. It is my hope that the combination of these two approaches, as well as class time, then practice between and after courses or workshops, enable a drawing student to learn 'how to'.
This website is primarily for local, current, former and prospective students of my painting and drawing classes. Introductory courses are my preferred subject as basic visual concepts can be conveyed with greater confidence and utility. As well, the visual arts universe seems far more compressed, energetic, intense and interesting in the beginning when things might be the visual equivalent of the Universe's Planck Epoch. I see more complex, or 'advanced' drawing and painting applications not so much as learning new skills but as more nuanced reiterations of basic drawing concepts constantly scaling up relative to how much time and effort one actually draws/paints/designs.
As an occasional instructor over the years I have taught adults drawing fundamentals, life and figurative drawing, animation background painting and design, basic human and animal anatomy, fundamentals of design, watercolour painting of landscape and figure, and painting fundamentals using the transparent properties of watercolour paint to combine the discrete qualities of light and shade on form with local colour.
In my classes, as well as looking for applications of drawing and painting concepts in photos from the art historical record we look at examples of how they are applied in film, story boarding, comics, animation, advertising, product design, engineering design, architectural design, and print advertising. The applied examples of visual skills and craft we experience so frequently in popular visual media from day to day can serve as observable, instructive and readily available examples of the concepts we are studying in class, in addition to looking at fine art.
The little 'movies' and live action 'demos' that I'm putting here were originally created very quickly during the Covid-19 pandemic for online instruction. Now I'm back occasionally teaching in the classroom I hope these videos will continue to be useful for preview and review. It's my hope that I will spend less time showing slides and explaining things during class and that we can get straight to work drawing or painting in the studio and enjoy a class atmosphere that is more atelier-like. I hope this means I can draw or paint alongside students more frequently and for longer periods and also that I might spend more time orbiting and looking at what students are doing and providing feedback.
Over time I hope to add new movies from other courses and might re-make or edit some of the uploaded content all of which has been put together quite quickly and off-the-cuff.
I would be happy to have any mistakes or misconceptions pointed out in the material posted here. I have often been known get the wrong end of a stick. ( [email protected] )
June 2020
This website might also be a useful way for art education programmers to survey my instructional product. If you are interested in considering me for workshops, demonstrations, or course instruction please contact me at [email protected].